Tag: car detailing business

Developing Repeat Customers (Reoccurring Revenues) Tip #4 of 10

Posted on | by Detail King Team

Remember who is really responsible for paying the bills! – The answer is Your Customers… Doing the job right the first time is critical; it will bring you repeat business and referrals. Remember the old “2 to 8” Rule? For every good job that you do your customer will tell at least 2 people, for every bad job that you do you customer will tell at least 8! Well now with the Internet and web sites like Yelp.com your customers send praise and criticism to the masses with only a few “clicks.” If you do not understand how imperative it is to do high quality work you should not be involved with any service-oriented business. If you do understand the importance of doing great work then you should thrive! Be sure to use all the tools that the Internet and relevant social media channels have to offer.

Know your business: Mistakes can cost you money and your best customers. Experience develops trust and makes a lasting impression. As your customer base increases you will acquire repeat business and referral business. Keep your customers happy and spend a few extra minutes. Those extra minutes can go a long, long way. For example if you are only providing a hand- wash and vacuum but observe that your customers vehicle may need a stain removed from the carpet, or minor tar splatter removed from a quarter panel, do it for free! These quick fix services can go a long way and keep you customers coming back. Provide them the very best “value.”

Follow up the next day: Be sure to send a follow up email containing a short survey to your customer asking them for their feedback about the detailing service you provided. If you do not have a survey system and if a customer was unhappy, studies show they simply just will not purchase again from you, and you will never know why. If you think you have “earned” the right to ask for a referral or two now is the time to do so. If the referrals they provide you convert into appointments for you then be sure to thank your customer and offer them a complimentary hand car wash. This will go a long way with most people.

Attitude makes all the difference: All employees should be considerate, patient, honest in their opinions, and above all listen to the customer’s needs. Look professional, a polo shirt, lab coat, or apron can advertise your business name. In colder months have sweatshirts printed with your company name on the front and back with your logo. To be professional you must also look professional. Don’t wear shirts advertising your favorite rock band or wear ball caps showing off your favorite beer! Be clean, well groomed, clean shaven. Brush your teeth, be sure your breath is pleasant, and smile. Always look your customers directly in the eye. Having a company dress code for your business will surely separate you from most of your competition.

Make your customer’s visit is a pleasant experience: If you have a retail location, keep your shop, waiting area, and rest rooms clean and immaculate. Be sure to have comfortable seating, pleasant aromas in the waiting area, reading material like popular magazines and possibly even a television to watch. Offering WIFI and comfortable seating will keep your customer happy and the ability to catch up with their emails. If you operate a mobile detailing or car wash business, your vehicle and trailer should always be visibly clean, and tires should always be dressed. Remember you and your vehicle are the “walking and rolling billboard.” Make every impression a favorable lasting one. Your mobile rig should stand out and be noticed.

Educate your customers: Explain and demonstrate the difference between high-quality service and the average “Ho-Hum” detail. Review step by step what you will do for the service they are inquiring about. Always show your customers the features and benefits of your services. Features are nothing without the benefit of the service. Tell your customers why they should consider you – what makes your company different. Never, ever, talk poorly about a competitor. If you do your selling presentation correctly your competitors name will never even be mentioned. If you attend the Detail King training seminar program upon graduation you will be awarded a diploma. Be sure you make your diploma visible in your shop and publish it on your facebook page and or web site. Advise your customer s that you have been educated with how to perform the services that you are providing them.

Go the extra mile: Give your customers more than they expect. Offer an occasional service to a good customer at no cost. Offer a complimentary service at no cost with a full detail. This will help ensure that your customer will tell everyone about how great your service is.

Encourage money saving maintenance programs: Not only will this develop repeat customers, but it retains a high resale value on their vehicles. VIP plans are very popular with up-scale customers. After the detail offer them hand washes and hand washes with express paint protection and glamour services by using our Final Touch Ultra express spray wax or Aqua Seal which is a wet surface polymer sealant. You can convert a basic car wash into making extra $$$ while keeping your customers vehicle’s standing tall year round! You can also offer VIP plans and offer cosmetic detailing services every month, bi monthly, and quarterly. If your customers are informed about the maintenance services you offer and you do a good job the first time you will surely build a substantial customer base.

Keep in touch: A Thank You Card or a telephone follow-up call will impress just about anyone. Ask them how they liked their detail. Make the call 1 day after you performed the detail. Always ask for a few referrals. If your customer has a concern about the detail you just did, fix the problem right away! Having a customer database and keeping it updated is crucial. When obtaining your customer’s contact information be sure to get their email address and ask them if it is OK to email them your company’s latest news and specials from time to time. Keeping your name in front of them will help secure repeat business and referrals for you. You can also email your customer a reminder 30 days before their next detail is due, and then again in 1-2 weeks. Tip #5 will discuss how to use social media to help brand your auto detailing business.

Branding & Promoting Your Auto Detailing Business – Tip #3 of 10

Posted on | by Detail King Team

Select a Descriptive, Easy-to-Remember Name for Your Business:  A great name is the first step to success. Don’t leave the public guessing. Include a brief description of what you do or what you specialize in. You should check with your county or state to see if the name you want to use is available. Before you reserve your business name be sure to visit Godaddy.com and see if the domain name has already been reserved or being used by someone else. If the “.com” web site domain name has been taken you may want to consider choosing another business name that still is available. Your web site, if properly constructed, promoted and maintained can be a gold mine for generating customers on a regular basis.

Develop a Professional Logo: Your logo is your brand. It identifies your company as unique, different and compelling – all reasons the consumer should choose you over the other guys. The logo of a company establishes its credibility and provides an image the public can become familiar with. Branding your business with an interesting and easily identifiable logo will create loyalty from your customers and keep them coming back. Your logo can communicate values and ideas, even the personality of your business. You want your customers to have complete confidence in you. Confidence will lead to establishing credibility for your business.

A logo is the first step in your endeavor to build credibility with new prospects and your customers. A company without a logo will raise doubts and negative feelings, which is the opposite of what you want to accomplish. A clear and consistent logo sends a message of stability to your consumers, earning their trust. A quality logo announces that your business is legitimate and professional. Organizations without a logo run the risk of appearing unstable. You should place your logo on all of your advertising materials including service menus, flyers, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, web site, Facebook page and any promotional items.

Create a Service Menu: Imagine how long it would take to get your meal at a restaurant if your server had to tell you everything that was available back in the kitchen. In addition to describing the meal options, your waiter would have to give you prices and brief explanations of the food offerings. A menu speeds up the process and resolves most of the initial questions about what’s available and how it will taste. Same holds true for your auto detailing business. It’s most important that your auto detailing service menu be a tangible document that includes a complete list of your services, along with the price for each service. Visible somewhere on the cover of your service menu should be your company name and logo, along with your phone number.

Inside the service menu is where you should find a list of your services. And along with all of the packages you list, be sure to add a brief description of each service. You can describe the “features” of your services by using bullets, but be sure to have a short summary paragraph below the bullets to discuss the benefits of the “features.” Your service menu should be divided into sections displaying Exterior Detailing Services, Interior Detailing Services, Express Detailing Services, Value Detailing Packages, Sell Your Car Package, New Car Protection Package and an ala carte menu. Be sure to only print price ranges and the actual price is based on size and condition. We offer several CD’s with professionally designed templates for service menus and promotional flyers that can be easily customized and branded for your business.

Hand out Business Cards: Being in business is a tough game. It’s a competitive industry with many opponents. One of the most used tools of the business world is the business card. They are exchanged at any occasion. With so many business cards in the arena, it’s critical to have one that will stand out among all the rest. A business card can convey numerous things. It can simply be used as a way to quickly and easily hand out contact information. It can, however also be a very effective marketing tool for your detailing business. Prior to designing a business card, it is necessary to identify the goal you would like to achieve with your business card. It can be an identity marker, a marketing tool, or a way to make you stand out from your competition. Having an objective for your business card will help keep you from making it too “busy” and therefore less memorable. The most important information includes: your business name, company logo, tag line, your name, phone number, e-mail address, web site and your most important social media page address.

If you have a shop rather than being a mobile operator then your address should be included. When designing a business card, you want to be sure take advantage of all available space to the fullest potential; this includes the back. On the back of the business card you may have a QR code that connects to your web site, space for date and time of appointment and even list your popular services. Your business card may possibly be the first impression people will have of your business. You don’t want to have a business card that appears to be less than professional. Some will say that you want the feel of your card to stand out. Use a heavier grade of paper card stock bond and don’t print business cards from your home computer. They may send the wrong message especially to your higher-end prospects. Anytime I hand out a business card I ask for one back and then enter that person’s information into a database of either hot prospects or past customers and follow up by a phone call or send an email. Detail King offers a professional logo and business card development package

Send Out Periodical E Mails: It is imperative to ask for your prospects and customers email addresses. Proper email follow up is crucial to your success. Sending out an occasional email blast will keep your name in front of your prospects and customers. Inform your subscribers of any special promotions or new services that you will be offering. You should send out email blasts to your prospects and customers one to two times per month. Using services like constantcontact.com will enable you to “segment” your lists into prospects and into customers. You will want to segment your base so you can make the offers a little different to both lists (prospects and customers). Constant Contact will furnish you with statistics for each e mail that you send out so you can see how many subscribers actually opened it up and also clicked on any links you may have had within the content of the email. Services like Constant Contact offer several templates and the ability for you to include your logo and promote your brand very professionally. You can also put a code on your home page to allow potential customers to request more information about your detailing business.

You must always portray a professional image and the information published above in this newsletter is very basic components for branding and promoting your business. But even though basic, must be practiced and made standard procedure so you can acquire new business and get repeat customers. In a few days we will publish Tip #4 which will discuss how to obtain Repeat Business. Repeat business = Reoccurring revenues!